Google self-driving car
Google self-driving car is any in a range of autonomous cars, developed by Google X as part of its project to develop technology for mainly electric cars. The software installed in Google's cars is named Google Chauffeur.[1] Lettering on the side of each car identifies it as a "self-driving car". The project was formerly led by Sebastian Thrun, former director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and co-inventor of Google Street View. Thrun's team at Stanford created the robotic vehicle Stanley which won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge and its US$2 million prize from the United States Department of Defense.[2] The team developing the system consisted of 15 engineers working for Google, including Chris Urmson, Mike Montemerlo, and Anthony Levandowski who had worked on the DARPA Grand and Urban Challenges.[3]
Legislation has been passed in four U.S. states and Washington, D.C. allowing driverless cars. The state of Nevada passed a law on June 29, 2011, permitting the operation of autonomous cars in Nevada, after Google had been lobbying in that state for robotic car laws.[4][5]The Nevada law went into effect on March 1, 2012, and the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles issued the first license for an autonomous car in May 2012, to a Toyota Prius modified with Google's experimental driverless technology.[6] In April 2012, Floridabecame the second state to allow the testing of autonomous cars on public roads,[7] and California became the third when Governor Jerry Brown signed the bill into law at Google Headquarters in Mountain View.[8] In December 2013, Michigan became the fourth state to allow testing of driverless cars on public roads.[9] In July 2014, the city of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho adopted a robotics ordinance that includes provisions to allow for self-driving cars.[10]
In May 2014, Google presented a new concept for their driverless car that had neither a steering wheel nor pedals,[11] and unveiled a fully functioning prototype in December of that year that they planned to test on San Francisco Bay Area roads beginning in 2015.[12] Google plans to make these cars available to the public in 2020
How
does it work?
ØIt is
powered by an electric motor with around a 100 mile range,
Ø The car
uses a combination of sensors and software to locate itself in the real world.
ØTo get a
rough location of the car, at which point radar, lasers and cameras take over
to monitor the world around the car, 360-degrees.
ØThe
software can recognize objects, people, cars, road marking, signs and traffic
lights, obeying the rules of the road and allowing for multiple unpredictable
hazards.
How it drives?
- ØWhere am I?
The car
processes both map and sensor information to determine where it
is in the
world. Our car knows what street it's on and which lane it's in.
- ØWhat’s around me?
Sensors helps
to detect objects all around us. The software classifies objects
based on their
size, shape and movement pattern.
- ØWhat will happen next?
The software
predicts what all the objects around us might do next.
- ØWhat should I do?
The software
then chooses a safe speed and trajectory for the car.
Advantages
¨The technology could
save life.
¨It follow all the
rules.
¨Increases the
capacity of road,
¨Disabilities would no
longer be a factor.
¨Less space for
parking.
¨Lack of human error.
Limitations
¨But under current
laws “a human must be in control of a car at all times.”
¨Some components
already available in some cars (automatic slow down and radar)
¨Risk of Hacking.
¨It could not be used
in emergency cases.
¨It is not working in
rainy and snowfall areas.
